50 convertible opinion

[spindrift]

Admiral thinks she wants to fish and cruise more than just hang out in port. The prices on some of the 50Cs and 55Cs seem very attractive. Anyone have an opinion or experience on either of these fine convertible models that replaced the 53 c?

Many thanks
Spin

[CM3]

Hey Spin,

I can't believe that no one has responded to you on this one. I have been around the boat for some time and she it quite impressive across the board.

She raises fish and she is quite spacious and comfortable.

I stumbled across this one the other day on sportfishermen . com and hope to hear something back on her soon.

I have yet to be out of the 53 and never even realized there was a 53

I don't think that I was much help... Sorry

[Maynard Rupp]

My only guess is that most folks don't want the expense of operating 12-71 Detroits. These old girls gobble fuel and still only put out 625hp. I know there are higher powered versions, but these monsters need lots of money thrown at them when something goes wrong or is due for replacement.

[spindrift]

Thanks Guys

My mechanic has advised me to stay away from 12-71s because of the potentially high maintance cost and fuel usage. He is quite keen on 8-92s partculaly the 550 hp versions as they are reasonalby robust. The real issues on these boats appears to be resale. My broker says they are neither fish nor foul; they are too slow by contemporary standards for avid fisherman where money is no object and a bit light on accomodation. He questions what the resale will be; he just does not have a feel at all. There does some to be a market for the 42 and 45 by the charter operator guys as these are more efficent to operate.

I still have a great memory of chartering a Rybo 48 at Sailfish Marina in Riveria Beach on New Years Day. Took my then 80 year old father out ; we had help boat a nice sailfish he hooked onto (tag and release). A great way to start out a new year.

[st.tully]

Your broker is right on the mark regarding the 50's. Diesel engines have come a long way since the 71 and 92 series DD's. But repowering a 50 plus Hatt is prohibitively expensive - especially compared to just buying a newer boat with the newer technology diesels. The 45 Hatt on the other hand can be repowered reasonably. My 45 has Cummins QSM11's and she turns a reasonable speed with very reasonable economy. Engines are quiet compared to DD's and no problem with fumes and smoke - we run and troll all day with the salon door open!! Good luck with your search.

[fun guy]

I have a 1987 52' convertible with 675hp 892's and love it to death. 2900 original hours, and it still runs like a champ with very little smoke. Last weekend I spent over 62 consecutive hours offshore in a billfish tournament, all but 8 of them underway, and there was virtually NO diesel on the transom when he got to the house.

And we caught a lot of fish, including the winning tuna. Most of the "newer" boats in the tournament had lots of mechanical problems, I told those guys that their problem was that their boats cost too much and the motors weren't old enough......

The 52' rocks.

[Ross Macdonald]

Depends how fast you want to go. We have a 1979 60 C with 650 HP 12v71s that have 3000 hrs on them and we just had a complete engine survey done and they surveyed out beautifully. We run at 11 knots at 1400 RPM and burn on the floscans 16 GPH. The surveyor, who works on nothing but detroits, said the way we use the boat, we can probably get 5,000 hrs. and I will be long gone before that happens. 12s run very smoothly and we do not get any diesel sooting on the transom unless we are running for 30+ hrs non stop. Don't know as much as most of you guys..Just my humble opinion...

[Genesis]

The primary "knock" against these boats is that they're "not fast enough" (~18kt cruise, low 20s on the pins with 8vs) and repowering them with enough moxie to make them "fast enough" is prohibitively expensive. Same knock that people have against the 45Cs, but there repowering is significantly cheaper (e.g. QSM11 660s will make the 45C into a rocket and cut fuel burn dramatically.)

The 12s are thirsty and in addition have 4 more jugs if/when they need work. I'd strongly prefer the 8s.

If you're happy with the performance they're tanks, will take you anywhere and are both safe and, compared to many other vessels of equivalent size, will out-sea-keep most of 'em.

I like 'em plenty but when I was shopping the 45C was a better "fit" for me; I didn't need the extra length and interior space (the difference is very significant!) and didn't want the additional fuel burn that came with it.

For what they are its a lot of boat for a reasonable amount of money, especially if you find someone who just can't feed the hungry beasts under the floor with fuel spiking as it has. I've seen what look like some pretty good deals on them lately....